ELCA Council Updated on Renewing Worship, Health Plan Redesign
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received an update on the church's project to develop the "next generation of worship resources," and it approved changes to the ELCA medical and dental benefits plan. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors...
Lutherans Manage Tornado Relief Work In Utica, Ill.
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), is organizing relief and recovery work in Utica, Ill., after 19 tornadoes struck the town and other areas of Illinois April 20. Utica is 90 miles southwest of...
Lutheran Communicators Honored For Their Work
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Several members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) took awards home from the Associated Church Press (ACP) Convention April 18-21 at the Novotel Toronto Centre, Toronto. The ACP presented awards in 72 categories of religious journalism work in 2003. The ACP is an 88-year-old professional...
ELCA Council Adopts Message On Terrorism
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted "Living in a Time of Terrorism" as a message of the ELCA. The message is based on "For Peace in God's World," a social statement the ELCA adopted in 1995, which called the church "to...
ELCA Council Endorses 'Living In God's Amazing Grace' Tag Line
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) endorsed "Living in God's amazing grace" as the tag line for the churchwide organization. The phrase is intended to help build the church's identity with both member and non-members. The council requested that the tag line...
ELCA Council Endorses Timeline For Studies On Sexuality
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) endorsed a timeline for communicating the report and recommendations of the church's Task Force for the Studies on Sexuality. The 2005 ELCA Churchwide Assembly is to receive the report and consider the recommendations on whether or...
Plaintiffs Get $8 Million In ELCA Portion Of Texas Civil Case Settlement
CHICAGO (ELCA) – Fourteen plaintiffs and their attorneys will get $8 million in a settlement of a civil suit against the churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Initially, all of the ELCA portion of the settlement will be paid from insurance funds, said John R. Brooks,...
ELCA Council Supports Vision for Mission, New Funding Initiative
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) pledged a goal of 100 percent participation in the ELCA's Vision for Mission offering, approved a new mission funding initiative and adopted a "continuing resolution" for the establishment of a "development services" unit at the churchwide...
ELCA Council Cuts Spending, Staff, Programs
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) authorized the churchwide organization to spend $80.4 million this fiscal year, down $1.1 million from the $81.5 million it authorized for 2004 at its November 2003 meeting. As a result of the action, 20 positions in...
ELCA Council Reaffirms 'Stand With Africa'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) affirmed the continuation of "Stand With Africa" as a second-mile- giving opportunity and reaffirmed the ELCA's commitment to accompany companion churches and partner agencies in Africa. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and...
ELCA Council Hears Hope for ELCA-LCMS Shared Ministries
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- It appears "pastoral working relationships" through shared ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod (LCMS) will continue, the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA Secretary, reported to the ELCA Church Council. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors...
ELCA Council Affirms Organ, Tissue, Blood Donations
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a social policy resolution on "The Donation of Organs, Tissue and Whole Blood." The 11-point resolution said the ELCA "regards the donation of organs, tissue and whole blood as an act of stewardship and as...
William Weiblen, Former President of Lutheran Seminary, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. William H. Weiblen, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and former president of Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, died April 19 in Dubuque. He was 85. Wartburg is one of eight seminaries of the ELCA. "In perhaps a most appropriate sense...
ELCA Council Calls on Bush to Reconsider Middle East Matters
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) expressed "grave concern regarding recent unilateral initiatives" being considered by the State of Israel, and called on U.S. President George W. Bush to reconsider his recent support of Israel's planned actions. The council "strongly affirmed" the...
ELCA Pastor 'Day 1' Speaker in May, June, July
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Ann Svennungsen, president of the Fund for Theological Education, Atlanta, and a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is the featured speaker May 2, June 6 and July 18 on "Day 1," a radio program broadcast on more than 150 stations nationwide....
ELCA Council Hears Presiding Bishop's 'Ambivalence' Concerns
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), asked a series of questions of the ELCA Church Council focusing on what he termed "ambivalence" within the church. He suggested one key answer to ambivalence is to "unabashedly declare the Easter...
Resources, Events, Funding in Plans for Lutheran Men in Mission
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Board members for Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM), the men's organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), came away from their meeting March 19-21 in Charleston, S.C., "with the beginnings of a three-year plan that is realistic and attainable," said LMM President Heber Rast, Cameron,...
Lutheran Services in America is 'Building Communities'
ROSEMONT, Ill. (ELCA) -- "Building Communities" was the theme of the 2004 annual conference for Lutheran Services in America (LSA). Almost 400 executives, staff members and friends of Lutheran social service agencies studied facets of the theme through speakers, workshops and worship here March 31-April 2. "We have at least...
Lutheran-Jewish Relations Panel Discusses 'Passion,' Book, Talks
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Jewish Relations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) discussed the film "The Passion of the Christ," the possibility of compiling a book of essays based on its "Talking Points" and the dialogue involving the ELCA and the Union of Reform Judaism....
ELCA Settles Texas Civil Case With 14 Plaintiffs
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) settled a civil suit brought against the church in Marshall, Texas, by 14 plaintiffs in a case that involved the behavior of a former ELCA pastor. The former pastor, Gerald P. Thomas Jr., was found guilty...
